Fly
by Watershatteredfireball
Summary: All Sonic characters belong to Sega. I own the others. An illegal government branch is targeting Shadow's family for starters. Station Square has become a corrupt place to live in and yet one stranger helps, unafraid of the consequences. Shadow's daughter learns about him and decides that no one writes your destiny other than yourself. A heart of gold is a heart worth keeping.
1. Someone, Carve Me a Tombstone

_Chapter 1_

 _Someone, Carve Me a Tombstone_

Maria's POV

Today is my first day of grade 10…This is going to suck.

I'm not sure what makes me so unpopular, the fact that my dad tried to blow up the world because the government was cruel to him, mom's frightening temper, or maybe how some people call it scandalous how my mom ever went out with a villain. He is a real sweetheart but only to those who he thinks deserve it, meaning anyone who is non-human and non-government. Before he met mom he despised the law but...it turns out that because she was the princess of Mercias, their marriage made them the rulers of Mercias.

The school bus stopped and I sucked in some breath as I ascended the stairs that moved according to the door's movements. My footsteps tapped along the hard floor but none acknowledged me. But that's alright. None could figure out who my relatives were. If any were told, they'd throw their heads back and laugh.

I found my chair and plopped into it, smoothing out the wrinkles in my jeans, I looked out the window. A black and pink hair lock blocked my vision but I didn't care. The butterflies in my stomach were the greater distraction.

A couple snickers came behind me and I stiffened. Turned around, I saw Crystal a purple hedgehog gossiping with her friends. Being the most popular girl in this school, she has the power to make every head turn, and all worship the ground she walks on. Her purple locks moved as she turned her head around. A handsome young man smiled like an idiot at her and passed out when her green eyes looked at him. She raised an eyebrow and sighed with her eyes rolled. Her hand brushed her darker shaded hair and looked at her pink painted nails that sparkled in the sunlight. Head leaned against her hand, she angrily muttered, "Where is he? Taking glances from idiots is really not doing it for me."

Diamond, her best friend assured her, "Don't worry. I'm sure he has not forgotten. We all know how he is with school..."

"Ugh, don't remind me. When it comes to education, he is a real bore. Always has to put that before the important things." Her eyes then glanced back and I quickly looked out the window. Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away. Then again, that method never worked with her. It was as though she hunted for ways to torment people. I was unfortunate to be her favorite target.

"Eww, half-alien at twelve o'clock. No offense," she then looked up as she tapped her chin and corrected herself, "no wait, I mean offense. Shouldn't you be in the back with the losers? But then again, they probably wouldn't too thrilled about a crazy little killer in their midst." The two broke into laughter as I whipped my head around to avoid eye contact.

This was going to be like last year. Normal people hate me and so do the losers.

But that's enough about me. There is a whole world out there that is so much larger than I. If my parents could do it with several hating them, there is no reason why I should complain.


	2. Forgettable Face, Unforgettable Crush

_Chapter 2_

 _Forgettable Face, Unforgettable Crush_

The halls were wide and strange, but that's to be expected. More classes mean a bigger building...at least that was what our last year's principle said.

My hand reached into my pocket and my green eyes read over the locker number assigned. It was the one next to a corner.

"Awesome, our lockers are next to each other?" The words startled me as well as relieved me. I raised my head, and looked behind me. There stood a familiar blue-eyed chipmunk with red hair wearing a pony tail, a black leather jacket, a dark blue T-shirt with a white swirly heart that was decorated by pink roses like a vine, black capris, and a pair of black boots. My cousin, Sonia smirked like her father, Sonic and pulled out her paper to wave it in front of me.

Her locker was next to mine as she had said and she walked backwards in front of me with her hands behind her back. "So," she said, "Have you seen any cute guys when you came here?"

I froze in my tracks with an awkward expression and had my hands hanging next to my sides, "What brought that question on? You know that would be the last thing on my mind."

Hands on her hips, she leaned forward, blue eyes twinkling, "True, but you still did not answer the question. There had to be someone who caught your eye back there."

Shaking my head, I said, "Not one," to change the subject, I said, "Oh look, there's my locker." And taking hold of the handle, I yanked it open. I pulled out my stuff and put in the bare necessities. In it were my lunch, notes, and a mirror that was owned by the school.

Sonia opened hers and piled in a mess of things. She held out a rolled up paper to me and said, "Here, if you're going to start high school, you'll need something sweet in your locker."

Cautiously taking it, I unrolled it and saw a poster of the newest rock band, _Sweet Sixteen_ in my hands. The guys were cute, I will not deny it but I've never enjoyed collecting pictures of total strangers, cute or not. But I did not want to hurt Sonia's feelings. I placed it inside the wall of my locker and said, "Alright but that's it."

She clapped her hands together with hers eyes happily closed, "Not to worry, Maria. You'll change your mind when you come to the concert with me."

"Concert?" I blankly stared at her. My cousin pulled out two tickets and held them in the light where they could be seen. She even had bought us tickets to watch the boy band. My only response was, "Uh..."

My hand was pulled out and she pressed the ticket into my hand and closed it. Before I could answer, the bell rang and she skipped off saying, "I'll see you after school. I'll call you so then we could go there together."

I stood there gawking, not knowing how to say 'no.' Sonia has the tendency to do things for people with such a cheerful attitude that it would feel like shooting a puppy to turn something down...unless I came up with a valid excuse. Unfortunately, there was none so all I did was sigh and tuck the paper into my pocket.

I then made my way through the mess of students into the biology class room.

When in there, I sat down but was disturbed by a mushy substance beneath me. It made me cringe and my hand reached down to feel it but the teacher walked in, saying, "Good morning class. It is a wonderful day that I decided to walk to work instead of taking the car. Now to get down to business," she cleared the chalk off the board and wrote down our first lesson.

As new information was presented to us, I jolted down my notes. Something vibrated in my pocket and it made my fur stick up. Glancing from student-to-student and at the teacher, I reached down and snatched my cell phone. Holding it just below the wooden table, I checked the text message which said, _Hey Maria, think you could stomach a dissected frog? Or how about a worm? (Evil laughter)_

I narrowed my eyes at the message and typed back, _uh huh, you know that does not gross me out. This is biology after all._

The guy on the other side answered, _I guess you're right. Blade and I were just curious. After all, we can't let anything happen to our baby sister._

My eye was twitching and I answered, _you do realise that I have two other sisters that are younger than me right?_

My brother, Dark said, _Eh, you're still younger than us. Besides, calling you a baby sister makes you squirm and that's why it's fun._

I told him to let me do school and pocketed my phone. It sucks that the twins have graduated because now they have nothing better to do than drive the world insane (no joke).

My hand snatched up a pencil to try writing my test again. The phone buzzed again, and I rolled my eyes. Instead of answering, I ignored it and continued to listen. Unfortunately the lesson was nearly over and there was a bunch of mumble jumble on the board that I could not comprehend. I banged my head onto the desk, groaning. This could not be happening. I just started this year. Last year was so bad that I came way too close to being held back a year. But that was because I constantly left my home work behind or somehow lost it.

The teacher called out, "Miss Maria Hedgehog, will you please answer this question?" She tapped the board at the biology question she had written out. My heart rate increased as I looked over the question. Part of the class snickered as I stood on my feet. One girl whispered to her boyfriend, "The dork is going to botch it up again."

He nodded and snickered, "Looks like we are going to see how it is not done." His buddy high-fived with him below the desks and I felt my confidence dwindle in the bottom of my stomach.

I stepped close to the black board and tapped the chalk against the hard surface. It was a question based on what we were told. Unfortunately I missed the important part of the lesson. Someone please shoot me.

The door had burst open and a guy quickly said, "Sorry I'm late Mrs. B. My mom caught a bad cold today and I had to help her while Dad went to go to a meeting with the dingoes and dark legion. It was pretty bad."

Mrs. Baker nodded and motioned him to sit. Crystal glanced at him dreamily and winked. The echidna noticed it and quickly waved back as he opened his book. Licking his fingertips, he flicked through the pages and skimmed through the pages. He then sat up with his hands resting on the table, eyeing me a certain way. I looked at him questioningly but then Mrs. Baker said to me, "Maria, do you know the answer?"

I quickly changed into a deep red and turned around. Looking at the question one last time, I decided to guess the answer. Words were jolted down and when I finished, I noticed how the echidna tilted his head and Mrs. Baker said, "I'm afraid you have the wrong answer. Please be seated." She then asked the crowd, "Would anyone else like to try?"

Once again, I was in my chair, mocking eyes on me. The rest just ignored me. That echidna however, continued to look but I barely noticed him. No doubt he too was inwardly laughing.

Class was finished in the next few minutes. As I got up to leave, the echidna asked the teacher, "Would it be alright if I stay here after school to catch up on what I've missed?" She looked at him oddly as she handed him a paper, saying, "You don't need detention, Knuckles Jr. You made it quite clear why you missed out on my class."

He tucked his hands into his pockets, "True…but I feel bad about missing my first day."

She nodded, "Very well then. You could stay here after school for as long as you like."

"Thanks."

I looked back at him disbelievingly. He willingly asked for extra school. Most would dodge that. I caught his dark purple eyes and smiled when he waved. Behind me, two football players pushed past me saying to him, "What rock did you go under man? We tried calling you but we only got the answering machine."

So it wasn't me that he saw.

He kept his glance at them as one nuggied him. Pulling the guy away, Jr looked at the other guy in front of him and said, "What's all this about, Manic?"

Sonia's brother, Manic said "The game dude! Don't tell me you forgot that we were supposed to practice tonight."

The echidna tilted his head as his eyebrows knitted together, "I could have sworn that I messaged you that Mom caught a bad flu and I had to help take care of her."

Manic looked at him sympathetically, "Oh yeah? What about your other siblings?"

"They are still in the camping trip that Uncle Kragoc suckered them into."

"How come he didn't get you to come?"

An awkward smile went on his face, "I told him that Dad needed help to guard the emerald."

The hedgehog snapped his fingers, "That's right, with his team, the Chaotix disbanded, he has no one to back him up other than you guys and your mom."

He nodded, "You guessed it. So if we are going to practice, I'm going to have to cut it short."

"That's fair. Just don't bail out on us when _the_ game starts this Friday."

Jr shrugged, "No guarantees."

He looked in my direction and I quickly flipped around the corner. Red in the cheeks, I sweat dropped. Standing up, I brushed my hair behind my pointed ear.

Hurrying along, I headed for the gym, hopefully before Jr realised I was watching him.

The gym teacher looked at each of us as we entered and he blew his whistle to gain our undivided attention, "Listen up, you yahoos, I want to see everyone here partake in something hard. You know what they say, no pain, no gain. So start getting in pain! Climb those ropes!"

I cringed at his speech and looked at the ropes that led straight to the ceiling. Rubbing my hands together with a special powder on them as instructed, I tackled the rope to climb it. Crystal was next to me and when she got ahead of me, she kicked my jaw. My hands lost their grip and I fell off.

I closed my eyes to prepare for the impact but something soft and strong grasped my hand. My eyes slowly opened and saw Jr holding me tight. Speechless, my eyes were widened from coming inches away from becoming a mark on the floor. He called out, "Hang on, I've got you. Grab the rope!"

Snapped to attention, I scanned the area until my eyes spotted the rope. Clinging onto it, I was red in the face from the fact that I was kicked.

Once the top was reached, I climbed down again. The teacher made certain that all the students made it safely to the bottom but before I touched the ground, he already made everyone move on to the next activity.

"Hey wait!" I frantically called out. A mistake was made in my footing and I fell onto my knees. Lowly groaning, I stood up and sighed. Walking at a normal pace, I followed the group. Ink black hair dangled before my green eyes and I blew it out of my way.

At the next activity of soccer, it was boys against girls. Hair in a ponytail, I pushed my bangs out of my face. A gutsy feeling told me I should have stayed with the rope climbing. Tying up the last shoe lace, I joined the others. Because of my slow pace, the coach decided that everyone was accounted for and started the game.

I stood at the door frame, watching the ball race across the field back and forth. The coach had to be around here somewhere. To my left were the cheerleaders (like Diamond and Crystal) and behind them as they stacked into triangle formation was Crystal's ex-boyfriend Jake the Hedgehog. His blue eyes turned to mine and a slight smile crossed his face.

The look on his face made me stumble back and fall on my rear. Rubbing my squished tail, I looked back at him. He looked back and forth and approached me. He extended his hand to me and I cautiously took hold of it. Lifted back to my feet, I almost fell forward but he caught my shoulders. The hedgehog helped me back to the right position and he said, "New around here?"

The words had cut me deep. I've been here for as long as he. My head shook, "I've been here a while."

He nodded and looked at me through squinted eyes, "Crystal told me that you're Shadow and Amy's kid. I didn't believe it when she told me, but now that I see you again, you could definitely see the resemblance. So, what's your name?"

"Maria," I quietly mumbled.

"Ah, I see. Well, Marina today is your lucky day. How does supper at six, in Burger Café sound to you?"

My eyes blinked at him several minutes. This was Crystal's ex-boyfriend. Since the break-up was three months ago, I might be able to trust him. On the other hand, it could be that he just wants to go out with any girl to help himself get over his ex.

He noticed my face and added, "Don't worry, I'm way over Crystal. She is abusive, a crank, and a spoiled brat."

My eyes softened at him. Maybe I was being too hard on him. If what he said was true, maybe it will not hurt to give at least one chance. I nodded and said, "I guess one date won't hurt. Sure, I'll go but it'll have to be tomorrow. I had already made plans with my cousin to see a concert after school."

A ball flew in between us, and I looked to see an echidna come in our direction. Jake waved at me, saying "Okay then, tomorrow it will be. I'll come by to pick you up then."

The ball rolled until it tapped my feet. It made me look down and the echidna caught up to me. He said to me, eyeing my uniform "What are you doing way out here?"

Not used to people noticing that I'm missing, I quickly looked at him and said, "Just getting ready."

"Heh, then let's not waste any more time."

He kicked the balled back into the field but before he left, he looked over his shoulder to say, "I didn't catch your name."

"Huh, oh yeah," I softly said with the feeling that it was waste of time. It is not as though anyone other than the teachers and bullies have ever remembered it, "It is Maria."

"Well then, Maria, you had better hurry up otherwise," he fired a shot into his opponent's net and turned back to me, "I just might beat you."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What's your name?" I walked towards him, hands behind my back.

A smile that was very much like the sun, came from him as he said, "Knuckles Jr, but just call me Jr. Everyone else does."

The whistle blew and the coach called everyone to get organised for the new game. Even though he saw me on the field, he did not act as though I was in trouble for missing the first game.


	3. Troubling Mail

_Chapter 3_

 _Troubling Mail_

The soccer game had been put to an end. For once, I played in a sport without messing up like the time my shoe went flying into Crystal's face. Because of that incident, the whole school developed a 'Kill Maria' club. I did not want to show my face at school for days.

I would have tried going to another school but the main problem was that this is the last school that I've been sent to. All the others treated me with a similar distain because my dad was still blamed for half the moon going in smoke and they held no trust for him because he was part Black Arms, a cannibalistic alien species that comes to devour a part of Mobius every fifty years.

The school day was brought to a close after I went to the concert with Sonia, who was still raving about how cool the band members looked. By the time I reached home, the only thing I wanted to do was sink into my bed and sleep.

In the morning, Mom called out, "Maria, come downstairs, there's a package here for you." I groaned under my blankets and barely possessed the will to move. Pushing the covers aside, I reached for my traditional purple T-shirt and jeans. Once they were pulled on, I raced downstairs to see Mom standing with a packaged box in her hands. It was neatly wrapped in brown paper but had no address.

She handed it to me and before I grabbed it, Dad came in and said to Mom, holding out his hand "Let me see that."

"How come?" she looked at him confused.

He snatched it and placed his ear next to it. Mom looked back at me and awkwardly shrugged. We looked back at him as he carefully shook it, muttering "I don't trust anyone who does not bother putting his name on his mail."

"Shadow, what harm would there be in a package? Just let Maria have the package. You're being silly about it."

He coolly looked at her through half opened eyes, "Oh yeah…Well, it so happens that some people like to send bombs in the mail."

"Huh?" Mom's eyes twitched in panic.

I sweat dropped and watched Dad examine the package.

He eventually stopped and shrugged, "I guess it looks pretty safe," he handed it to me, "Here you go, Maria."

I cautiously took it. Fingers moving under the paper, I tore it open and took the lid off the box. In it sat a locket on a golden chain. Next to it was a note: _your secret admirer._

Mom looked at me as I held the note between my two fingers. I eventually lowered it and said, "I've a secret admirer?"

"Really?" she looked at me eagerly and said, "Do you have any idea who that might be?"

"Not a chance," I then thought to myself _considering that I have next to zero popularity in the school..._

Dad froze in his steps and backed out of the kitchen to look at us. His mouth looked as though positioned to speak but then refrained. It made me wonder if a swear word was about to come out. He then approached me and said, "May I see what he sent?"

I handed it to him with a worried expression. What if I have a stocker? That would be frightening to have on your tail.

He eventually handed it back, "I'd be careful if I were you Maria. If you find more things like this come, let me know so then I could get GUN to look for him."

"Thanks," I nodded. That was right. Even though he ruled Mercias, he still worked at GUN because he hated doing nothing. When Dad left to go to work and Mom went to finish making breakfast, my fingers played with the locket. I did not dare put it on. There was something unnerving about it. I then opened it to find a tiny note that said: _Now Die!_

My eyes grew wide as I held it and I called out, "Mo—" The words were cut off when a gas came out and knocked me out.


	4. Twisted Scientists, Mysterious Hero

_Chapter 4_

 _Twisted Scientists, Mysterious Hero_

My eyelids eventually lifted, still feeling heavy. I groggily moved but something locked my limbs in their position. Green eyes looking down, they centered on black straps wrapped around my arms and legs. Who put me here and why?

Head whirling around, I tried to see if I could recognise the place. No such luck...

I attempted to break free but my strength felt sapped no doubt from the fumes I inhaled. "Mom, Dad," I weakly called but there was no answer. A bright light flashed into my face and I turned my head aside. My sensitive ears then caught footsteps coming close.

A voice then said in a heavy Yankee accent, "So you are awake, good..." A silhouetted hand wrapped around a handle to yank it down. More lights came on and I saw a dark haired middle-aged man, standing there in his silver rimmed glasses. He just finished pulling on a black leathered glove. "The others here say that you are like the ultimate life form. I wanted to see for myself if this was true."

The words sent worry through me. Maybe he will find that my power sucked and leave me alone.

A sharp object was stuck into my arm. I immediately looked for the culprit and saw the man holding a needle. It was red with my blood and I could see how much was in it. He then turned around to insert it into a computer, which began analysing it. The results appeared on the monitor and he chuckled to himself. Turned back to me, he picked up another vial. A strange black substance rested within it and swirled around as he moved. Even from where I was the scent was revolting. I wished to hold my nose, but certain straps made that impossible. Black arms blood kicking in, I lowly growled at him. Not fully aware of what was happening, my arms tried pulling free.

The man caught onto what my blood was trying to do and quickly pulled a different lever. A hundred volts were sent into my system. My arms dropped to my sides and I looked at him with clenched teeth. Sweat dripped down my face as I lied down in anguish. _He was going to pay for this, mark my words…_

"Where is that cerium? The others said it should be potent enough to keep this thing down while we work on it." He rummaged through his things until he found another needle. Holding it up, he tested it to make sure it was filled with enough stuff. Sickly smirking, he walked to me as though he owned my life.

"Wha—what is that stuff? It smells horrible..." I asked, still trying to back away. Behind him, I saw in bold on the computer, _mind control formula prepared_.

Mind control? Whatever he was up to, I will not let him get away with it. The man was still able to reach me and roughly handled my arm. The needle was pushed into my flesh and the liquid entered my blood stream. A burning feeling flowed through me because the black arms part of me hated it but when my arms tried to move they were unable to. I tried once more, but to no avail. My eyes were the only part able to move. In horror, I watched as others walked inside with strange equipment.

One even carried a knife.

They all sat around me, pulling chairs closer to the table I was on. The one with the knife cut my arm open and began wiring something in. As blood poured through my black fur, I closed my eyes wishing it was over. Over our heads, something moved. One scientist raised his head and another asked him, "What is the matter?"

The guy looked back at what he was doing and said, "Thought I heard something."

Their leader said, "If that's the case, one of us should check it out. This experiment is now days considered illegal. If word gets out that we are doing this, it could be the end of us."

One stood up and said, "Right. Come on, Robert, let's see what is there."

They both left as more worked on my body. A scientist looked at the others and said, "Extraordinary! Her blood is ice cold. I wonder why."

I looked down at my neck. On my fourteenth birthday, I found a harmless medallion that later took the shape of a snowflake and refused to come off my neck. The strange part about it was that it gifted me with ice powers, and had in a sense made me like ice. My skin and blood is frigid to the touch and I could never feel warm or cold.

The medallion lightly glowed as though it knew I was in danger.

Another noise was made, only louder. The borders above creaked and then snapped, sending the boards plummeting to the floor behind everyone. All scientists stood up alarmed as something dove into their leader's gut. Eyes wide, he crumpled to the floor.

"I would hit harder, but I'm no murderer," a voice said. I tried to look, but the paralysing formula in me did not wear off. All I heard was footsteps. The attacker then said, "Where do you think you're going?" Fingers were cracked, "I'm still not done. You still have to tell me what your business is here. You were experimenting on a Mobian hedgehog, don't deny it." His voice, even though it was dark and intimidating had a familiar feel to it.

A crunching sound was heard and something banged against my table. A guy yelled, "Argh! My hand!"

The voice said, "You should have re-thought your actions before you did them. I have a low tolerance for illegal experimentation. I also saw you carry her here unconscious. When GUN and the Dark Legion arrive here, you will have a lot to answer."

"The—the governments from—from both kingdoms?" Panic was clearly written in the man's tone.

A loud bang against the door was heard and was shortly followed by crashing and smashing. Footsteps approached me and Dad leapt onto the table and watched me with sweat beading down his temple, "Maria!" I never saw him look so strangely. His eyes were wide and shaking like a traumatised child.

The formula wore off me and when he undid the straps, I reached out a hand to him. He took no time and picked me up and carried me to a vehicle outside. "Stay here," he bluntly told me as he leapt back into the building.

When he returned, I looked at him and said, "Did you find out what they were doing?"

He nodded and said, "You almost had a mind control device completely installed into your system. I plan on taking you to a Dark Legion surgeon to get it out under my supervision."

"Did you find out who got there first?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before you guys made your entrance, someone was beating up the scientists and said that you guys were on your way."

He narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head, "No idea...But I'll see if Rouge could find out."

"Right," I looked to the side, thinking about where I heard that voice before.


	5. Jake's Message

I was still shaken by being mysteriously abducted and partly dissected. My dad took me to GUN as he said and also had the locket from my 'secret admirer' so then he could have it analysed.

While I stayed in the examination room to get every ounce of whatever was placed into my blood out, another scientist came in and motioned my Dad to come.

Dad watched me carefully as he left the room through the sliding door and my super hearing (which I inherited from Dad) picked up every detail.

 _Some footsteps were made down the hall._

 _Some of them had stopped and I heard Dad ask, "What is it? Make it fast. I'm not fond of leaving my daughter alone in other people's hands."_

 _The other guy, who sounded like the scientist, told him: "Of course. It would be suicide to play around with you of all people, or do you prefer to be called Mobians."_

 _There was a pause. I could almost picture Dad either refraining to growl or clenching his teeth. "Continue..." he sounded like he was about to blow a blood vessel._

 _Not that I could blame him. Humans loved nothing more than to make second class citizens out of Mobians or experiments._

 _"_ _Um, right," my ears twitched as they picked up paper rustling. "Remember the locket that you insisted to have us analysed? According to these results, your daughter had received it from an illegal branch of GUN that had mysteriously vanished several years ago when it was discovered that they were experimenting on fellow humans."_

 _My dad's voice remained flat and uninterested, "And what else have they done?"_

 _A nervous laugh came from the scientist, "It has always been considered wrong to experiment on other people. Usually it is done to animals..." There was a longer pause than the first time the human messed up and I whirled my head at the sudden loud bang that followed._

 _The female human that was giving me the formula to separate the weird stuff from my system jumped at the sound crash the wall._

 _"_ _Watch what words you use, or no more will come from that twisted mouth of yours," Dad growled at him. I could hear shirt material (probably from the guy that Dad threw against the wall) being pulled. "If you have nothing else to say that's important, I will be taking my daughter home. I do not wish to spend any more time around the likes of you than I need to."_

Dad chaos controlled into the room and asked the nurse that was helping me, "Is there anything else that needs to be done or can Maria go home?"

She shook her head and he turned to me.

I slid off the black synthetic leather bed and walked next to dad. The two of us teleported home.

It was close to noon and by that time I was at home drinking the hot chocolate that Mom insisted on making. She wanted me to relax after what happened. To be honest, no matter how hard I tried I was not sure how much I could really calm down.

What happened could have ended worse than death.

Tapping my foot at a slightly high speed, I glanced outside. Everything was calm and so peaceful. It was a shame that I remained so restless. At least it was a Saturday and not Tuesday. The last thing I wanted was to face school...

I shoot out of my chair and slapped both of my cheeks. Today was supposed to be my date with Jake.

My eyes glanced at my parents in the kitchen. Mom might let me date but Dad...well, let's just say that is his least favorite word. My younger sister Rosie tried to do it, but when Dad pulled the guy that she wanted to date into another room, they stayed in there for twelve minutes.

After that, Rosie's date bolted out of the room with a pale face and ran out of the house screaming that the ultimate life form was going to kill him.

Maybe it would be better if I do not tell Dad about Jake yet.

I went into the kitchen and said, "Hey, Dad, Mom," they looked at me, "If it would be alright, I think I'm going into my bedroom for a short while. Would that be okay?"

Mom nodded and said, "Of course, Maria. That was a lot what you went through. You go on right ahead."

"Thanks," I ran upstairs.

My feet stopped halfway up the stairs. What was I doing? My parents trusted me and felt sorry for me. And here I was lying to them that I was going to be in my room. I shook my head.

This did not feel right. My conscience was knocking at my brain, telling me to turn around and tell them about Jake.

I looked at where Dad talked to Mom.

He said to her, "Someone at work told me that Maria was given that locket from a disappeared GUN branch."

She slowly walked forward, saying in horror: "What? But what were they up to with my baby? D-did this person tell you anything else?"

A sigh came from him as he tucked his heads into his black GUN coat and he shook his head in anger and disappointment, "No." He turned his head to her, "But whoever they are, they will not live much longer. I'm going to do all I could to track every one of them down." Looking away, he sadly added: "I can't stand to see another girl named Maria dead."

I tilted my head confused. Who was this other Maria? Not much was told to us kids about our parents' past life other than what everyone else enjoyed rubbing into our face. But nothing was ever mentioned about anyone named Maria.

Feeling sorry for Dad, I went into my room and pulled out my laptop. I typed in my password and messaged Jake, _Sorry, but it does not look like I'm going out with anyone for a long while. Something came up and I don't want to hurt my parents' feelings. How about going out another time?_

The mouse moved to 'message' and I tapped the clicker.

Seconds after Jake returned my email, _Bummer...are you really going to stay at home because your old man and mom says 'no'? Come on, one night won't kill them. And if it makes you feel better, I will even help you come up with a cover story so then they won't even know that you were gone. Sound good?_

His offer held no appeal to me. Normally I might be able to do something crazy but right now, I could not bring myself to do it. Didn't the words 'hurt my parents' feelings' have any effect on the guy? And not to mention the message he had sent was sending a weird chill up my spine.

It was starting to look like there was a good reason why Crystal dated him for five straight years until the recent break-up. The only other person to use that way of talking was her.

 _I'll be staying home. See you at school._

After that I closed my computer. My black fingers drummed on the laptop's smooth surface. When I accepted Jake's offer to date him, did I jump at the chance because no one has ever noticed me and asked me out before?

Jake used to go out with the girl that tormented me and still liked to do it to this very day. I ran my fingers through my black and pink streaked hair. When we talked, he seemed to be honest but now I wondered if I made a wise move.


End file.
